Natural Remedy List

Congestion: Red pepper, jalapenos and hot salsa will temporarily open up your nasal passages and break up congestion.

Bronchitis: For mild bronchitis symptoms, use a vaporizer or take a steamy shower to ease your discomfort and open up your chest.

Make your own nose drops: Make your own nose drops out of saltwater to break up congestion and help you breathe.

Gargle salt water: To help a sore throat, gargle salt water several times daily. WebMD recommends using an astringent gargle made of tea with tannin to help an itchy “tickle” throat.

Put a dab of Vick’s on your nose: Just a dab of Vick’s Vapor Rub or another menthol salve can break up congestion and help you breathe more easily.

Take lots of Vitamin C: Taking Vitamin C even when you do get sick can prevent the cold from going full cycle.

Take echinacea: Homemademedicine.com suggests taking the herb echinacea to soothe a sore throat.

Take Vitamin C to prevent allergies: Taking Vitamin C also helps allergies, especially symptoms from hay fever and asthma, because of “its ability to counteract the inflammation responses that are part of such conditions.”

Drink green tea: Green tea is a natural antihistamine, which helps both allergies and colds.

Eat or drink thyme: Make a tea with thyme or add a little to your recipes when you cook to break up congestion and relieve stuffy noses.

Fever and the Flu

Flu and cold symptoms: GrannyMed has an old-fashioned concoction that soothes cold and flu symptoms. Mix lemon juice, one spoonful of honey and one spoonful of brandy to create a therapeutic cocktail.

Take a bath: Take a bath in lukewarm water to bring down escalating body temperatures.

Eat artichokes: Try eating artichokes to reduce fever.

Take a sponge bath: Read this professional guide to learn how to give your child a sponge bath when he or she has a fever.

Drink lots of water: Drinking water is a good habit to have anyway, but it’s especially crucial when you have a fever. You’ll need to stay hydrated and bring your overall body temperature down.

Make a ginger steam: Create your own steam room by turning on the hot water in the sink and adding a couple of teaspoons of ginger or eucalyptus oil. Get up close to the mixture and breathe in the steam for relief.

Sleep: You probably won’t feel like doing much else anyway.

Drink liquids instead of eating solid foods: An old tradition recommends drinking liquids and refraining from eating solid foods until you’re over a fever.

Take aspirin: WebMD urges adults sick with the flu or fever to go ahead and take aspirin to reduce fever and muscle aches.

Saffron Tea: Drink saffron tea made of half a teaspoon of saffron and boiling water.

Aches and Pains

Headache: If you’ve got a bad headache and are still waiting for the aspirin to kick in, try applying ice to your head. MotherNature.com quotes doctor and author Fred Sheftell, who maintains “if you can get the headache when it’s a dull throb, close to 80 percent of people can abort their headaches.”

Backache: Before you reach for painkillers, check out your posture. If you’re constantly humped over the keyboard or hunching your shoulders forward, you could be sabotaging yourself. Sit up straight and push your shoulders back.

Toothache: GrannyMed recommends mixing 1 teaspoon of baking soda with water and then swishing it around in your mouth to create a soothing mouthwash.

Headache: Turn out the lights if you’re at home or have your own office. Reducing the amount of light helps ease eye strain and can calm your throbbing head.

Arthritis: Soak a teaspoon of black sesame seeds in a quart of water and let it sit overnight. In the morning, eat the seeds and drink the water that’s left.

Eat bananas: Instantly up your potassium levels by eating a banana. This helps everything from growing pains to charlie horses.

Drink turmeric and hot milk: Make a drink made of one teaspoon of turmeric and hot milk, which supposedly relieve general body pain.

Toothache: Another quick fix for a painful toothache is to chew fresh guava leaves or oregano leaves.

Arthritis: Staying warm helps ease the pain of arthritis. Loosely wrap yourself up in a blanket or adjust the thermostat to create the optimum environment.

Apply St. John’s wort to relieve back pain: This remedy can cause extra sensitivity to the sun, so be extra careful if you plan on being outside in your bathing suit.

Bee stings: A popular remedy for bee stings is to moisten a cigarette and gently rub the wet tobacco on the sting. Tobacco brings out the poison and also helps with the pain.

Gently cleanse a sunburn: Very gently cleanse a sunburn with antibacterial soap to prevent getting an infection in the damaged, vulnerable area.

Black Eye: Reduce the swelling and appearance of an ugly black eye by eating papaya and pineapple, according to orthopedic surgeon Michael Rask. According to Dr. Rask, “An enzyme found in those fruits ‘changes’ the molecular structure of the blood, so it’s more easily absorbed by the body.”

Minor burns: Use whole milk on a minor burn, as the milk “soothes burns and promotes healing,” according to professor Stephen M. Purcell.

Drink Pedialyte: This product is marketed for kids, but adults with a nasty hangover can also re-hydrate quickly and make a tummy ache go away by drinking Pedialyte.

Eat a banana: Eat a banana the morning after or boil two banana peels in a cup of water for a therapeutic drink.

Eat fatty foods the night before: Eating fatty foods like pizza or downing a teaspoon of olive oil help to “grease the lining of the intestines,” according to WebMD, which then makes it take longer for alcohol to “be absorbed by the body.”

Acne: Vitamins like zinc, niacin and Vitamin A are helpful in treating acne, so increase your daily intake of all three. Another simple remedy is to apply either lemon juice or toothpaste to blemishes overnight.

Eczema: For temporary relief, take an oatmeal bath or use lotion that contains oatmeal. Another way to temporarily stop itching is to rub ice over the area that is irritated.

Chickenpox: Take a vinegar bath to ease itching and prevent yourself from scratching too much, which creates scars. Oatmeal baths also help.

Make your own face mask: To moisturize and extra dry face, make a face mask made of 2-5 tablespoons of raw peanuts mixed with milk. Let he paste dry on your face before rinsing it off with cold water.

Use lavender oil on a skin abrasion: Just a few drops will heal the abrasion.

Use lemon to combat corns: Tie a slice of fresh lemon to the area on your body where the corn is, and leave it on for one night.

Eat blackberries and cherries to reduce the appearance of varicose veins: These fruits can clear up many symptoms of varicose veins.

Pregnancy

Breast milk: GrannyMed suggests consuming more almonds oil to improve the quality of the breast milk.

Wear a seasickness bracelet for morning sickness: Wearing a bracelet designed for seasickness can actually help pregnant women with nausea.

Mental Health and Psychology

Exercise: Doctors and experts have long heralded the natural benefits of exercise against depression. Psychologist, professor and author Keith Johnsgard tells patients that “the odds are good to excellent that if you exercise, you will be virtually depression-free in three to five weeks.”

Quit smoking: Read this list to learn about home remedies that may help you quit smoking, like eating cayenne pepper to reduce cravings and drinking ginger tea to help curb nausea.

Embarrassing Symptoms

Constipation: Eat plums, dates and apples to cure constipation.

Body odor: Mix baking soda and lemon juice and then apply the mixture under your arms to reduce body odor.

Use lime juice for dandruff problems: Rinse your hair with one teaspoon of lime juice to reduce stickiness and help prevent dandruff.

Dry out genital herpes: To reduce swelling and dry out genital herpes, take aspirin, refrain from touching lesions and wear loose cotton underwear. Men can also use drying lotions like calamine lotion on the sores, but women are advised to avoid these types of lotions.

Drink sage tea to get rid of bad breath: This remedy takes advantage of the presence of thujone in sage.

Drink green tea and cranberry juice for a UTI: If you can’t get to the doctor right away, drink loads of green tea and cranberry juice (not cranberry juice concentrate) to rid your body of a urinary tract infection.

Earache: Drop garlic juice into your ear if you’re trying to relieve the pain from an ear infection.

Clean out earwax: Drop peroxide or rubbing alcohol into your ear to clean out earwax.

Get rid of dark circles with a cold compress: Dr. Eric Donnenfeld suggests using a cold compress over eyes to banish dark circles. The moist, cold washcloth helps constrict blood vessels and makes them less visible.

Use a warm compress to moisturize eyes: Put a warm compress over your eyes to alleviate dryness.

Make a compress with eyebright tea: Eyebright tea “is a gentle balm for eyes that are strained.” according to MotherNature.com.

Miscellaneous Ailments

Prevent blisters with Vaseline: Rub Vaseline on your toes and heels to prevent blisters when you break in new shoes.

Dry skin: Give hands and feet an intense moisturizing treatment by slathering lotion on the dry areas and then wearing mittens or heavy duty socks overnight to lock in moisture.

Lemon juice drops help a bloody nose: Try dropping lemon juice into your nostrils to stop a bloody nose. Pinching your fingers across the bridge of your nose also proves to be effective.

Eat foods rich in niacin to prevent or stop a migraine: Some of these foods include tomatoes, fish and nuts.

Echinacea – for any kind of cut or minor wound. Echinacea speeds healing by preventing infection and developing new tissue at the site of a wound.

Yarrow – to stop bleeding It also acts as a local anesthetic. The oil is anti-inflammatory and stimulates the formation of healing wound tissueCloses wounds quickly, therefore make sure the wound is clean before applying.

Calendula – to soothe the skin and accelerate healing To treat minor burns and scrapes. It has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, astringent and immune-stimulating properties. Good for taking the discomfort out of excema.

Horse chestnut – for bruises or sprains, reducing pain, bruising, and swelling of sprains and sports injuries. Diminishes the number of tiny openings in capillary walls, which helps to “seal” the outflow of fluid surrounding tissue.

A good general herbal salve – including comfrey, chickweed, Echinacea, calendula, goldenseal, plantain, essential oils, and a host of other herbs.

Bach Rescue Remedy – combining star of Bethlehem, rock rose, impatiens, cherry plum and clematis flower essences. The flower remedies work on a mind-body level, centred around life force energyIt is harmless and could help in many stressful situations.

Peppermint tea – for any mild upset stomach or nausea.

Chamomile tea – to calm an upset stomach and help children fall asleep. To soothe irritation in the gastrointestinal tract. An excellent anti-inflammatory.

Slippery elm – a teaspoonful in a cup of hot water, stirred vigorously, is an excellent beverage when recovering from the flu or when the stomach is unable to hold down any other food. It’s also used in lozenges to soothe a sore throat.

Muscle balms and chest rubs – including ingredients such as camphor, menthol, peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, clove oil or other essential oils that will penetrate and help relax muscles. Also helps to relieve chest congestion.

Aloe Vera Gel – Use fresh gel from the plant or f you have to buy the most pure gel you can find, the Lilly of the Desert brand is good. Aloe Vera is invaluable for treating burns, sunburn, inflamed skin, rashes and acne. It also makes an excellent toning, anti aging moisturizer. However if you have an aloe vera plant you can cut a piece of the plant and squeeze the gel inside straight onto the above wounds.

Arnica Cream/Gel/Ointment/Infused Oil – Excellent for applying to bruises (where there is no broken skin), mild sprains and aching muscles. Can’t stress enough how good arnica is for preventing bruising…it can be amazing!

Echinacea Tincture – Available in both adult and children’s versions, echinacea is an essential herb to help the body to fight off any infection. Use as instructed, continuing for a week or two after infection subsides.

Lavender – I use for spots, cuts and any broken skin because it helps to rebalance the skin and prevents scarring. Also good for insomnia.

Tea tree – Head lice (urgh), athletes foot, put in the hair to stop gnats and midgies biting, also as an antiseptic.

Aloe vera – For burns, scalds and sunburn.I use a bought prepartion gel even though I have the plant because the smell is not nice. I once stood on my hair tongs in bare feet and the pain was horrific but thanks to aloe vera I didn’t have a single scar or mark.

Arnica – Is wonderful! It takes away swellings and bruisings almost over night. Before I found arnica my legs would be covered with bruises from the steroids but I can put arnica on and now have bruise free legs. It is also amazingly good for arthritis. I keep the flowers and make a bath tea for a soak they really help with aches and pains. I use a muslin cloth tied with wool and hang it in the bath.

Peppermint – a tea made from peppermint is is really good for indigestion and upset stomaches.

Mennuca oil – is one of the best anti-itch oils I have ever found, brilliant for dermatitis and excema.

Cloves – toothache also clove oil is good for mouth ulcers.

Callendula (marigolds) – heals broken skin beautifully we keep it for Paul’s excema. Use a small handful of marigold flowers, about half a pint of hot water steep and use to wash the broken skin, helps healing and prevents scarring. I also have a bought jar of callendula gel.

Eucalyptus Oil – As a steam inhalant. Really clears the nose ..strong though so only use a drop or two at most.

Eyebright – Use a teaspoon of eyebright and pour on hotwater to make a tea, strain with a tea strainer and allow to cool. Once cool bathe the eyes either with an eye bath or if the eyes are just strained and tired use a cotton ball and leave on like a compress. I particularly like it chilled cos it is lovely and refreshing on sore eyes. But must be used up within a day or two, even if kept in the fridge.

A cold remedy I use – a little fresh ginger about half an inch-ish, a broken stick of cinnamon, 4 cloves, some lemon slices or a teaspoon of lemon juice, some honey to taste. Simmer in a pint of water for 15 minutes with the lid on drink a cup three or four times a day.

A sore throat gargle – 3 tsp cider vinegar, 1 tsp honey, a small handful of sage leaves. Make a tea with the sage then strain and add the vinegar and honey, gargle 3 times a day.

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